Dr Emmanuel Ahiable, COVID-19 Case Management Lead at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge) says Ghana is likely to record more cases of non-infectious diseases due to post COVID-19 complications.
He, therefore, stressed the need for health workers specialised in non-communicable diseases to ready themselves to assist persons who develop complications after recovering from the viral infection.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr Ahiable said some research work had shown that severe COVID-19 infections caused seizures and temporary paralysis and encouraged recovered patients to seek the right medical attention for the complications they developed after recovery to avoid deaths.
He noted that three patients who recovered from critical to severe COVID-19 infections at the Ridge COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit had died after reporting back to the facility with a breathing difficulty complication, with one currently with the complication, on a mechanical ventilator at the Unit.
“People are dying more now, not from the viral infection but as a result of post COVID-19 complications,” the COVID-19 Case Management Lead, added.
Dr Ahiable said critical to severe coronavirus infections caused lasting damages to the lungs, heart, brain and created blood clots in the body, which must get the attention of specialists.
He said it also affected the functionality of the liver and kidney, causing mood swings and consistent fatigue in a recovered patient, “all post COVID-19 complications,” he added.
Dr Ahiable said other complications were stroke, diabetes, difficulty in breathing, and hypertension, adding that, the virus could also create scars in the lungs leading to a long-term breathing problem and fatigue.
He said it was also discovered that “Neuro COVID” could affect the brain, making it foggy and subsequently cause memory loss.
“At Ridge, for instance, we have had an instance where a recovered patient has developed diabetes as a post COVID -19 infection complication. We have also seen cases where two persons have developed stroke after recovery,” the COVID-19 Case Management Lead stressed.
Dr Ahiable, therefore, emphasized the importance of observing social distancing, washing of hands with soap under running water frequently, and the wearing of face masks.
The country’s latest update on the Ghana Health Service (GHS) website indicates that it has recorded 6,352 active cases and with 464 deaths. There are 64,658 recoveries out of the total 71,533 infections recorded so far.
Coronaviruses are said to be a large group of viruses that are common among animals.
In rare cases, they are what scientists call zoonotic – they can be transmitted from animals to humans, according to the US center for Disease Control and Prevention.
They are said to be the cause of dangerous diseases with incubation period between 3-14 days.
The initial signs and symptoms of COVID-19 were fever, runny nose, body ache, sore throat and possibly a headache.
However, many different strains have been recorded and the symptoms have varied.
Scientists are still learning about the disease and believe that the virus began in animals. At some point, one or more humans acquired infection from an animal, and those infected humans began transmitting infection to other humans.
The disease spreads from person to person through infected air droplets that are projected during sneezing or coughing.
It can also be transmitted when humans have contact with hands or surfaces that contain the virus and touch their eyes, nose, or mouth with the contaminated hands.
COVID-19 was first reported in China, but it has now spread throughout the world. Coronavirus Cases:
According to Worldometer, 107,212,738 cases have as of today, been recorded worldwide, with 2,342,647 deaths.
The currently infected persons stand at 25,685,120, while 79,037,310 have recovered and been discharged.
COVID-19 was first recorded in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
Scientists have since developed vaccines to minimise its spread.
GNA
